The SMU women’s basketball team moved into a tie for second place with Southern Mississippi in C-USA standings this weekend.

“We’re excited to be in second place because this is the perfect time to come together as a team,” junior forward Katie Gross said.

The Lady Mustangs clocked a win Sunday at Marshall, 72-57. Sophomore Katy Cobb had a season-high of 16 points for the game, and freshman Elbie Dodds had a career-high of 15 points. Gross scored 12 points in the first half alone, and sophomore Janielle Dodds had a career-high four steals.

“We were intent and focused with great defense [against Marshall],” Gross said. “Some girls came off the bench and did great for us, but the key was that we had a great team effort on defense.”

A team effort was needed to bounce back from Friday’s 75-63 defeat at the hands of East Carolina. In the losing effort, Janielle Dodds recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

“We weren’t as intent during the ECU game,” Gross said. “Our team defense was lacking and ECU’s freshman point guard did really good.”

The guard, ECU freshman Jasmine Young had 15 points. Pirates junior Cherrie Mills led all scorers with 22.

The women have a break in their season until Monday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. when they take on Southern Mississippi, which also boasts a 7-3 C-USA record.

“As long as we continue to have great team defense, we’ll be good for the remainder of the season,” Gross said. “If we can perform well at home and on the road, we can keep our second place standing or better.”